Steambox - Valve's console
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Out of interest, how many games are playable on Linux at the moment? I had the impression it was fairly low. If it is, doesn't it make the steam box useless?

I don't understand people who want a pc but only to use with a controller whilst it sits under their tv. If you don't want to play the more complicated pc games that don't work on consoles (total war, civ, mmos etc), then you might as well just play games on the 360/ps3. Buying a new pc just to play the same games a console can play seems like a waste of money to me, unless you really want to play games that look a bit prettier.

As a slight aside: just because you're rather play on a PC normally, doesn't mean that you have much space to spare for a bigger desktop. I'd certainly be interested in a smaller-form gaming PC even though I'm a kb&m Nazi.

Well the blokey who was interviewed in the first place has clarified his statement to say that we shouldn't expect any announcement from Valve in 2013. They are looking into linux, big picture etc but they are also looking at VR and augmented reality but no big announcement planned for 2013.

Either it's misdirection or he's trying to clear away the speculation that's been started. Can't find the link at the moment.

disusedgenius wrote:
As a slight aside: just because you're rather play on a PC normally, doesn't mean that you have much space to spare for a bigger desktop. I'd certainly be interested in a smaller-form gaming PC even though I'm a kb&m Nazi.

But if you're only going to play games that don't require a kb & m, then you'd only be playing games that are also available on consoles. Might as well just buy a console if that is the case, as it'd probably be cheaper and less hassle

andytheadequate wrote:
But if you're only going to play games that don't require a kb & m

kb&m Nazi in that I believe that anyone using a pad is sub-human scum.

Even beyond that I'd still get a PC over a console, literally the only thing a console has going for it is local multiplayer (which is a pretty good reason and all). But that's another tired argument.

I was talking about a hypothetical buyer, rather than you specifically...

You might be tempted to buy one as a second pc to have in your living room, but that's a fairly small market for valve to aim at. They're obviously trying to aim at console gamers who fancy giving pc gaming a go but I don't think they'll succeed

No guesswork needed. If it's linux based, it won't play the vast majority of games currently on steam. I doubt anyone is going to do mass conversion of 10 year old windows games for linux for the sake of this.

Gabe said you can install windows on it according to that interview, but then why not just get a PC? Mind you he also said you'd be able to run Netflix on it because it has a browser, which is patently false given it's linux based. Netflix (and Lovefilm) use DRM'd MS Silverlight, which does not exist on Linux or ever going to. I don't really think even *he* knows much about it himself

So it's just another PC basically? They've already made big screen mode, which handles all you really need to play your PC on a TV in a comfortable way, why are they pushing this angle of actually making the thing.

It just seems like they want Microsoft out of the picture rather than anything. But who's going to turn their nose at Windows 8 for being unusable (??) and then go to linux as a viable alternative, unless Steam themselves make some kind of competing semi-OS.

I don't get the precieved need for this at all. I have a PC under my telly and game only using a 360 pad. Happy to use a kb&m for windows. The PC fits fine, doesn't make too much noise and doesn't look too horrific. I can updgrade the PC as required and have done alot. I la-la-la-love it. Why would I want a Steambox over a PC.

cubbymoore wrote:
It just seems like they want Microsoft out of the picture rather than anything. But who's going to turn their nose at Windows 8 for being unusable (??) and then go to linux as a viable alternative, unless Steam themselves make some kind of competing semi-OS.

Well that's the idea behing Big Picture mode isn't it?

Personally, for me, Linux does everything I want from a computer except play modern games, and while I'm probably in a minority there, I can't be the only one. Sure, there are minor annoyances, like when Lovefilm took away Instant, but it seems to me that if anyone objects to Win 8's interface as much as Gabe Newell does, it's going to be an easy transition to something like xfce which is in practice much more like Win XP than I suspect Win 8 is.